Notes [1]The ancient court music is also referred to as "classical music", however there is a distinct difference from the classical literati music discussed here. The court music was made by "professional musicians" whose lives and career very much depended on the personal interest (i.e., like or dislike) of their patron, the emperors. Those musicians (many of whom were great masters in history and made great contribution to the music culture of China) were appointed as music officers of the court, had certain degree of privilege in the society but never enjoyed the same freedom as the scholars who played music but not relied on music for living. The court music was often performed in ensembles or even big orchestras, often in association with dance and ceremonial performances. The concept of concert hall in the present sense didn't exist before the end of the last dynasty (beginning of the last century). Public places for music making were often associated with tea houses, restaurants etc. Classical type of music were often performed in private setting such as palaces or private maisons etc. [2] The most miserable were the "professional musicians" in the entertainment industry, where musicians were either geishas (maybe little better than the situation of prostitutes) or quasi-slaves, and therefore among the lowest social status. In fact, even the business people were among the lowest social status in the past. Example of this can be found in the famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi's "pipa song" (772-846 AD) describing a geisha he met during his exil: " .... For every song she received endless bolts of silk. She sang, she beat time, all through the day, She danced till her head gear fell to the floor. Wine spilled, skirts stained, Delicacies rivaled gaieties. Day after day, and joy upon joy, Her best years slipped away. Then her brother joined the army, and her aunt died. Times changed, and her beauty faded. Her patrons wandered off, went elsewhere, And the carriages at her door got fewer and fewer, Till finally she had to lower herself to marry a tea dealer ..." [3] The destruction of the traditional values and the spiritual side of the traditional music through the overwhelming propaganda of the "revolutionary materialism" ideolody during the cultural revolution (1966-76) has led to several consequences in as far as music playing is concerned, particularly for those who grew up during that pathetic period. For instance, one of the most obvious consequence is that the pursuit for spiritual elevation has quite often been replaced by the pursuit for technique perfection (often narrowly understood as the ability for fast and precise playing). Needless to say that the master pieces from the traditional repertoire require more than just techniques to deliver in a way to touch the soul of listeners, misconceptions and prejudices often arise due to poor interpretations, and even the techniques for some traditional pieces might be superficially regarded as being too "simple" to be of interest by some players. Therefore, "If the audience is not moved by the music, particularly if it is a masterpiece from the guqin core repertoire, it is usually the player's fault and not the listener's", so said Prof. Li Xiangting, internationally-renowned Chinese guqin master. This is true for the master pieces for all kinds of traditional instruments.

[Note] The above text was prepared for the lecture & demonstration at the Julliard School on November 19, 2008 in New York, and for several interviews (new papers and radio). I wish to take the chance to thank Dr. Annette Sanger for proof reading and improvement in English. I put the whole text here for exchanging ideas with friends in music who might be interested. Any critics, comments and suggestions are warmly welcome. )